Is that false killer whale, um, grinning at us or is it just mugging for the camera?

Here’s a beautiful bit of film showing the amazing false killer whales and their vocalizations off the Hawaiian shores.

These animals are very close in relation to true orcas, and yet are quite distinct. While they both are predatory, orcas will hunt many species of mammals where false killer whales rarely do.

You can’t ask for better conditions than that when filming underwater! It’s perfectly blue, the sunlight is piercing through the water, and the footage is crystal clear. I recommend turning the volume up for this incredible chance to hear the distinct vocalizations.

At the 12-second mark, you can clearly see the unguarded prop of the boat spinning and again at the 27-second mark, you can clearly see what appears to be propeller marks on the second animal.

You can never tell what might have made scars like that on an animal that lives in the open ocean, but I’ve seen what a boat prop can do to flesh and it looks a lot like that.

What do you think, did that unguarded boat propeller make those marks on that whale?